Curtains

I have a severe aversion to vertical blinds. Just hate them for some reason. So, we are slowly but surely getting rid of all of them in our house!

W sent me some shawls from Afghanistan. The type women wear to cover their heads (see pic. for an example). They have all sorts of cool patterns, fabric, etc. I tried making one into a skirt and that was a terrible failure. However, I took 4 matching one's and made them into panel curtains! LOVE them. We really like having meaningful pieces in our house (furniture from Korea, artwork from Thailand, self-created paintings, etc.) So, the new curtains just add to us creating our home in our style.

Below are some before and after pictures. I still have to patch and paint the wall from where I (with my dad's help) took down the vertical blinds. Maybe I'll get to that when I get out some paint and do the garage/laundry room door and some baseboards that I've intended to do for about a month now. :-)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

..and since I'm pretty sure most of you could care less about my curtains and dislike for vertical blinds...I'll try to post some pic's of the kiddo's soon.

Ezra's WALKING!

2 days ago Ezra started walking! He had been taking a few steps here and there. We were all playing on the back porch, and I look over and he's walking all over the place! Where did this come from!? He LOVES to do things when HE is ready-not when we are. He's gotten even better at it today. I'm so proud of the big guy, and I think he' s also quite proud of himself! :-)


Yes, I saw Levi put something in his mouth-nothing new! It was an old piece of play dough. But get this, the other day he ate a little dead worm!! I saw the thing, and was going to get it in a bit. I saw him chewing on something-look over and the worm is gone! I didn't have the nerve to dig it out of his mouth. Hope you enjoyed it little buddy!

In this video, Ezra gets super excited. I LOVE It!


Little note: both the boys are starting to say more and more. They both say "Bubba" for their brother. Isn't that precious? They are also both saying "up" and of course "mama". Lots of "Mama" happening! Levi is even started to say "UH oh". Ezra says it ALL THE TIME, and Levi now says "UH".

It's also super cool to see how they are understanding things. After dinner, when I say "let's take a bath" they crawl to the bathroom door. (granted, part of that is probably out of routine). There's other things that they "get" too. When I say we are "Going to get Sissy from school" they smile! Love that.

Easter

( our ATTEMPT @ a family picture! UGH!)

What a joyous day we celebrate today! All week we've been singing "He's Alive, Alive, Alive Hallelujah!" They sang it at church today too. Love it. Love this day and am so thankful for a Savior. Here's a video of the song:



Gotta put the lyrics too!

"Alive Forever Amen"

Verse 1
Let the children sing a song of liberation
The God of our salvation set us free
Death, where is thy sting? The curse of sin is broken
The empty tomb stands open, come and see

CHORUS
He's alive, alive, alive. Hallelujah!
Alive! Praise and glory to the Lamb.
He's alive, alive, alive. Hallelujah!
Alive forever. Amen

Verse 2
Let my heart sing out, for Christ, the One and only
So powerful and holy rescued me
Death won't hurt me now because He has redeemed me
No grave will ever keep me from my King

CHORUS
I'm alive, alive, alive, hallelujah!
Alive! praise and glory to the Lamb.
He's alive, alive, alive. Hallelujah!
Alive forever. Amen

Bridge
Worthy is the Lamb, worthy of our praise
Worthy is the One who has overcome the grave
Let the people dance, let the people sing
Worthy is the mighty King.

KIDS WITH THEIR EASTER BASKETS. Can you appreciate that "The Bunny" (as Elliot refers to it) brought her teeth flossers AND that she is wearing her Christmas jammies?!

Why I'm Thin...

LEVI. Yes, Levi is my answer. Who needs a gym when they have a Levi? I think I get my cardio workout everyday just chasing this little man around. I am always finding him in random places. I decided to try to snap some shots of his climbing over the last few days. Believe me, I missed a lot because it's too dangerous to leave him to go find the camera! In fact, I was trying to get ready the other morning when I heard a huge crash and screaming. I run to the boys room (where all 3 were playing) to find the toy bin/shelf knocked over, toys everywhere, and Levi hanging from his pants!! He wasn't touching the ground at all!! Elliot tried to tell me Ezra was the one climbing it, but I find that VERY hard to believe since he barely lifts his feet off the ground...oh, and because he wasn't hanging mid-air by his pants! (Granted, Ezra was crying more than anyone. He's so sensitive-it's sweet!)

Here's some of Levi's climbing adventures w/ explanations:

Found is way in the laundry basket. This is not bad!
Playing in the airplane. (He is usually standing on the wing or in some other precarious position)If you look closely, you'll notice only one leg. Why? Because the other one is on the outside of the climber on the screen porch enclosure-where he likes to hang out with his whole self!If Elliot's bedroom door is left open, you can bet Levi will be climbing up on her bed. We were in there for over an hour the other day while he just climbed up, rolled off, climbed up, etc. etc. Ezra sat and played nicely on the floor ;-)
Taking a break from climbing on the bed to knock over El's step stool, climb up it, and try to tear down her lamp!
A few days ago I had to move the porch table to the corner to limit his access to the chairs. As you can see, one chair is already on TOP of the table to keep him from climbing it. Obviously my plan failed. He went UNDER the table and wiggled his way up on the chair. He is SOO VERY PROUD! Guess the table/chairs will be going to the garage (or the garbage). ugh!
Started getting them ready, got side tracked cleaning the kitchen, look out on the porch, and he's climbed ANOTHER chair and was rocking it back and forth. Scary!
Made them come inside for a bit...and he finds the desk chair that I had put in the corner thinking he would not climb. Wrong!
I was in the playroom getting Ez dressed when Elliot comes out to inform me that Levi is on the 2nd shelf of the changing table.
Levi sitting in the exercauser after climbing the changing table. Looks quite innocent....
until you know he climbed in there himself!!!
ANYONE WANNA COME BABYSIT? You can just consider it a weight loss plan...chasing crazy man, and keeping 2 others cared for and happy!

Egg Hunt and Date Night

Took the kids to a nice lil' egg hunt at the Park this a.m. Elliot had a lot of fun! She was timid when we first got there, but she took off when it was time to hunt eggs. Today was the most/fastest I've ever seen her RUN! She usually just takes her precious time. It was really nice to see her running and playing. At least I know she's capable of running if she ever needs to. haha.
I declared it would be Date Night with Mommy tonight. We had to return something at Ross (LOVE that store), so while we were up that way I took the kids to Chick-Fil-A. I bribed Elliot all day with being able to get a "special treat" of chocolate milk! :-) Ezra was signing "more" just perfectly to get some nuggets. Yes, I know it's not the healthiest thing ever, but it was a nice treat to take them out. Everyone behaved and we had a great time. After eating, they all got to go play. I love that it's a small enclosed area so no one can get too far away from me. Main problem is that Levi LOVES climbing. This means I end up chasing him through the play thing and leaving Ez to play with the toys on the wall. It worked, but I would not have been comfortable with it if it was crowded. See how high that boy was: The boys also enjoyed trying to climb UP the slide. Even Ez was enjoying having his feet off the ground.
Pretty girl, posing for a pic:

Reading

Elliot read her first "Bob" book today!! I am so proud of her! I have a few friends who recommended the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." (Maybe I wrote about this before.) Anyways, we have only completed lesson 7, and I am amazed! We have gone over the sounds m, e, t, s, and a. I know that those letters can combine to make words and was hoping that I could read her a book at bed time where she would be able to recognize some of the letter sounds and read a word (sat, mat, etc.) I just thought doing this might help reinforce what she's learning in her lessons.

Then, I remembered my sis-n-law gave me the 1st set of "Bob" books. I opened up the first book and the sounds it goes over are M,A,T, and S. PERFECT!!!

It's quite simple. Here is what the book says (each new line is a new page)
Mat.
Mat sat.
Sam.
Sam sat.
Mat sat. Sam sat.
Mat sat on Sam.
Sam sat on Mat.
Mat sat. Sam sat.

It's nothing super special, but that fact that after just 7 lessons she could sound out those words, I was impressed. Very much looking forward to the next 93 lessons!!

*NOTE: I am not some crazy mom forcing my newly-4 year old child to read. She LOVES letters, theirs sounds,writing words, and is very eager to learn to read. I'm just trying to follow her lead and teach her while she is interested rather than having to force it later when it's necessary. She will wake up and ask "When are we going to do my reading lesson?" If we are doing it and she seems tired/distracted, we stop and do it when she is ready. :-)

New Laundry Room

So...our laundry room was-ugly! There was not much to it. It's a pretty small space that you walk through when you come in from the garage. Had an old side-by-side washer/dryer with a beautiful wire rack above it. ;-) I had already cleaned it off in the picture, but it was stacked full of detergent and other random things.
Inspired by a closet laundry room in the "Lowe's Creative Ideas's Magazine"(yah, they made their money off that "free" magazine!) we decided it was time to make our room PRETTY! We hired my brother to do the work, picked out new appliances, paint colors, counter top, sink, etc. Now, it is a functional space! We have closed storage, a laundry tub, AND washer and dryer! I am LOVING it AND loving the new appliances!! (and...I totally need to STOP using my cell phone camera and taking crappy pictures, but I'm too lazy to find the other one and then get those pic's on the 'puter! SORRY if they are fuzzy pic's)
The best part (as I'm sure those of you who already have front-loading machines know) it provides hours of fun for your little one's!!! Elliot LOVES watching it, and was even trying to convince her friend to go sit and watch it with her the other day! HAHA I gotta admit, it is pretty fun to be able to watch your clothes get washed! Here's a side-by-side pic. for comparison. Doesn't it look like a totally new room?!?!

DOGS

My neighbors have dogs. I think about 6 of them. Really, I just want to kill them. They bark, and bark, and then bark some more. I have peeked over the fence (they are katty corner to us in a different neighborhood). The dogs are just scratching at the door to the house and barking to get in! I yelled over one day until someone finally came out. She was in her pajamas and claims they are "dog sitting." That's a lie! It's been like this for years! Last Monday, I yelled over the fence for someone to come out. I could see them looking at me through the kitchen window-but no one came outside. So, I drove my little booty over to the other neighborhood, found their house, and talked to them. Lady, once again in pajamas, claims they are just dog sitting. How can THEY stand the barking? And, even if you are dog sitting-you need to care for the animals and not just throw them in the yard to bark all day!

Today, I REALLY thought I was going INSANE! I totally lost it on all of my kids. I just wanted to run away. I went on the property appraisers website and found the people's address (it is not posted anywhere on their house), called Animal Control and filed a complaint. All they do is send out a stupid letter telling them their dogs are pissing their neighbors off.

So, I was browsing the internet to see if there is anything out there to stop dogs barking. There is some ultrasonic sound/bird feeder thing. Not sure I'll do that...but here is what someone else wrote-SO HOW I FEEL

"The difference between dogs barking and a football game or leaf blowers is that you know it will stop. And, it is seasonal or will be present during a given time. I can deal with that. Dog barking is like fingernails on a chalkboard… it just gets to you on a whole different level. It permeates you. You know it isn’t going to stop and is going to be there again and again and again. You also suspect that the owner’s don’t care. Can’t they hear the same thing that I hear? Are they deaf?"

My next step is to do some reverse address action and find their phone number. I'm going to call them everytime I hear the dogs. Hopefully they are home-otherwise this is totally pointless. We'll see how it goes. Figure I should do that *67 (or whatever you press to make your number come up unknown)...this way I can avoid getting a bunch of calls in return. :-)

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS!! I'm going to end up in a nut house if this doesn't stop!! It's AWFUL!! If there's no hope, just admit me now!

Steps

Ezra took THREE steps today!! So exciting.
Levi also took ONE step the other day.
Apparently my kids are kinda late walkers. But whatever, they're happy :-)

Studious

Hailey was over doing some homework today. Elliot was SO fascinated. She was right next to her, helping answer questions. It was too cute. In fact, I was a bit impressed with some of the things Elliot knew. (for example, identifying the word "between" out of a group of other words with no help). I actually had started the "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book with her earlier. We worked on the mmmm sound and the ssssss sound (you refer to letters as their sounds, not names). I think it will go well. At first she was like "I know all my letter sounds!"...but she stuck with it and did what was asked.
The boys were busy working too!